Petland accused of selling sick dogs

A federal class-action lawsuit has been filed against Petland Inc., accusing the pet store chain of selling unhealthy puppies from puppy mills and hiding that fact from consumers. The complaint alleges that Petland violated state and federal consumer protection laws by leading people to falsely believe that it gets its dogs from high-quality breeders.

The Hunte Corporation, which The Humane Society of the United States identifies as a "puppy broker," is also listed as a defendant.

"The assertion in the lawsuit is absolutely false. It's not in good business to sell unhealthy puppies ... Our business requires that our customers be satisfied," said Elizabeth Kunzelman, director of communications for Petland.

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Petland has two Michigan locations, in Novi and Westland.

According to the complaint, the Humane Society of the United States conducted an eight-month investigation that confirmed "Petland's practice of misrepresenting and concealing the origin of puppy mill puppies."

The investigation involved visits to 21 Petland stores and 35 breeders and brokers that the Humane Society contends qualify as puppy mills. "This scheme to conceal the origin of these puppy mill puppies from consumers has left thousands of families in its wake suffering from emotional turmoil and significant monetary losses as they grapple with diseased and dying puppies," the lawsuit reads.

The complaint also accuses Petland of creating a market for puppy mill puppies. Puppy mills are defined as dog breeding organizations in which the health of the dogs is overlooked to maximize profits.

Six people who bought sick puppies from Petland stores are listed as plaintiffs. One of them, a Fowlerville woman named Nicole Kersanty, said she bought a Boston Terrier from the Petland in Novi that turned out to have a congenital spinal condition. The lawsuit classifies the breeder from which the Boston Terrier came as a puppy mill.

Bob Thorne, the owner of the Petland in Novi, said he gets his own dogs from his own breeders and doesn't use puppy mills. He said he has hundreds of breeders, and is certain that the breeder of the Boston Terrier is not a puppy mill. Thorne offers people who buy pets free spaying and neutering, two months health care coverage, three free veterinary visits and training support.

He has a three-year warranty that if a dog has a congenital or heredity condition that requires surgery, he'll pay up to twice the purchase price of the dog toward the surgery.

"If I bought dogs from puppy mills, how could I possibly offer all these things and still stay in business?" he said. "Puppy mills are known to have a lot of congenital and hereditary disorders. I couldn't afford it."

Thorne said because he is confident in the origin of his puppies, he offers customers a guarantee that if they determine that a puppy came from a puppy mill, "I'll refund twice your money."

A statement from Petland says that its stores "meet or exceed all state and federal requirements as it relates to the health of each puppy. Veterinarians certify that Petland pets are healthy."

The statement also says the company "is outraged and disappointed at the latest false accusations propagated by the Humane Society of the United States, a radical animal rights group ... This new attack from HSUS is in the form of a class action lawsuit based upon vague and undefined legal arguments."

The lawsuit was filed late Monday in U.S. District Court in Phoenix by attorneys representing members of the Humane Society, which calls itself the nation's largest animal protection organization, and the other pet owners who say they were sold sick puppies.

The lawsuit seeks an order certifying the action as a class action, and asks that each member of the class who was harmed get a full refund of what they paid for their puppies and any other damages they suffered as a result of the defendant's conduct.